The Phoenix Suns have reportedly signed small forward Chase Budinger to fill one of their roster spots until the end of the season. Budinger was waived by the Indiana Pacers last Saturday and replaced him with point guard Ty Lawson, who the Pacers acquired on Monday also from waivers.
Budinger, a second-round pick (44th overall) in the 2009 NBA Draft, will be playing in his seventh season and for his fourth NBA team after stints with the Houston Rockets, Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Pacers, as reported by ESPN.
The 27-year-old wingman was drafted by the Detroit Pistons but started his career with the Rockets after he was traded to the latter on draft night. He spent three seasons in Houston and had his best professional season during his sophomore year, averaging 9.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.6 assists in only 22 minutes per game.
During his final season with the Rockets, he competed in the 2012 NBA Slam Dunk contest where he notoriously completed a dunk over celebrity superstar P. Diddy, but he eventually lost to Jeremy Evans.
After that, he was then traded to the Wolves in the summer of 2012 for the 18th pick of that year's draft. He spent three seasons in Minnesota as well, but his numbers began to decline as his playing time decreased.
Budinger was traded by the Wolves to the Pacers last summer in exchange for Croatian forward Damjan Rudež. He played 49 games for head coach Frank Vogel mainly as a backup for All-Star Paul George, but had started two games and averaged 4.4 points, 2.5 boards, and 1.0 assists in only 14.9 minutes a night.
Arizona Sports noted that Budinger's signing with the Suns is "a bit of a homecoming" as he spent his college career with the Arizona Wildcats from 2006 to 2009.
"It feels great to be back in Arizona and it feels great to be back around these fans that I thoroughly enjoyed when I was down at U of A," Budinger said. "I just felt that it was the best opportunity for me and I just always wanted to be a Phoenix Sun, pretty much."
"I've always said in my career that this is a place that I would love to play, and this was the opportunity for me," he added.